Miss. governor signs bill requiring checks on immigrants’ status

The Associated Press

JACKSON – Mississippi’s Republican governor campaigned last year on minimizing government regulation of business, but he signed bill Monday that he said will require employers to use an unproven federal system to check immigrants’ status.

Haley Barbour said he has “serious concerns about specific provisions of the bill that could have unintended negative consequences.”

The bill becomes law Jan. 1. It will require employers to use the U.S. Homeland Security electronic verification system to check whether new hires are legal residents. Employers who hire illegal immigrants could lose their business license for a year and any state contract work for up to three years.

Any illegal immigrant found working in the state could face a one-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $10,000.

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